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It reminds patients by text, by automated message or if necessary by an agent call from an operator.

The appointments were kept at hospitals across North Wales including Ysbyty Gwynedd, Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and Wrexham Maelor Hospital.

A BCUHB spokesman said: “There were 73,000 missed hospital appointments across North Wales in the financial year March 31, 2014 to April 1, 2015.

“This year, there have been around 600 fewer missed appointments per month compared to the year before – mainly due to the reminder service.

“This scheme first launched in a small number of specialities in early 2014 and has been extended to cover more hospital sites and services since then.

“The result is around 7,300 patients more being seen on time, saving the Health Board around £1m each year.”

The reminder service has also encouraged more patients to let the hospitals know if they cannot attend their appointment – predicted to be 12,000 more this year than in 2013-14 – freeing up these slots and allowing other patients to be seen more quickly.

A BCUHB spokesman added: “This was a significant improvement but it was difficult to quantify what proportion of those people might have remembered to cancel their appointment anyway.”

Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar AM welcomed efforts to ”get to grips” with the problem of missed appointments but warned there is a “long way to go”.

He said the scourge costs the Welsh NHS around £60m a year and it’s getting worse.

He said: “Missing an appointment wastes the time of hard-working staff, deprives other patients of an opportunity to get their appointment and lengthens waiting lists as a result.”